Online Therapy: An Overview
Online therapy connects you with a therapist or a structured programme over the internet, instead of - or sometimes alongside - meeting in person. It's grown well beyond a "video call instead of an office visit"; most services now combine several ways of working.
How it typically works
Most online therapy services offer some combination of: scheduled video sessions with a licensed therapist, ongoing text messaging with your therapist between sessions, structured self-paced modules or worksheets (particularly in CBT-based programmes), and progress tracking tools. See how online therapy works for the step-by-step version.
Who tends to find it a good fit
- People who want more flexibility than a fixed weekly appointment allows
- People without easy local access to a therapist who specialises in what they need
- People who like having exercises and structure between sessions, not just the sessions themselves
- People who'd rather start from home than a waiting room
What it's not designed for
Online therapy is generally not the right first step for a mental health emergency, active crisis, or situations requiring immediate, in-person, high-intensity care. If that's where you are, see the crisis resources in our editorial policy, or contact local emergency services.
Explore further
- How online therapy works - the practical, step-by-step version
- Online vs in-person therapy - a direct comparison
- Online therapy cost - typical pricing
- Online CBT - the most common structured format
This page may contain affiliate links. If you click through and sign up with a service, we may earn a commission at no extra cost to you. This never affects which options we present or how we describe them.
Online-Therapy.com is a structured, CBT-based online therapy programme - one option worth understanding in detail.
Read Our Online-Therapy.com Review →- NIMH - Psychotherapies
- NHS - Cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT)